10 Modern PS1-Style Games You NEED To Play
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VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Caitlin Johnson
You'd better believe these low-poly classics are brand-new! For this video, we're looking at games released in the last few years that are inspired by the graphical and gameplay styles of the PlayStation 1. Our list includes “The Convenience Store” (2020), “Bloodwash” (2021), “Frogun” (2022), “ULTRAKILL” (2020), “DUSK” (2018) and more!
Caitlin Johnson
Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at 10 Modern PS1-Style Games. You’d better believe these low-poly classics are brand-new.
For this video, we’re looking at games released in the last few years that are inspired by the graphical and gameplay styles of the PlayStation 1.
As we’ll see throughout this list, low-poly and CRT-esque graphics are perfect for horror. Though these graphics were once cutting edge, the strange shapes and blurry textures can now seem very disturbing. “The Convenience Store” isn’t QUITE as graphically limited as some of our other games, but it’s an excellent and frightening title, so it goes on our list. Made in Japan with Japanese audio, you play as a young woman who works in a convenience store on the night shift. We won’t spoil anything, but this isolated, empty store builds suspense like few other settings, with sinister customers and unnameable horrors on the security cameras.
There are multiple entries in the “Fears to Fathom” anthology now, which adapt short stories into horror games. “Home Alone” is just one of those episodes, and it’ll only take you about twenty minutes to see it through. But, it’s quality, not quantity, and you’ll be chilled to your core wandering through this dark house at night. There’s a shadowy figure outside who may be trying to get in, but DOES he get in, or are you just imagining things? This story in particular came from Reddit, too, which is a fertile ground for producing terrifying, tall tales and creepypastas. Keep an eye on “Fears to Fathom’s” website to keep up with future installments.
In this game, you’re also playing through a VHS-filter the entire time, complete with invasive scanlines. You’re playing as pregnant college student Sara, whose boyfriend hasn’t been able to do the laundry. This means she has to venture out late at night to the laundromat because she has a job interview the next morning, and no clean clothes. But, of course, there’s a serial killer on the loose who specifically wants to claim pregnant women as his victims. It’s a corny concept, but the run-down environments and very unsettling sound design keep the experience feeling fresh. And it’ll make you think twice about putting off doing the laundry in future.
Another slasher, this one has a classic concept and lots of clichés to sink your teeth into. There’s a spooky, abandoned house that a serial killer once lived in, and investigators go and visit years later. Lo and behold, the killer returns, and you’ve got to try and get out alive. Paying homage to genre staples like “Resident Evil”, “Murder House” also boasts tank controls and fixed camera angles. It’s also not a PC-exclusive like many other PS1-style games, releasing on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch as well. So, no matter your preferred device, you can get the game and enjoy being hunted down by the formidable “Easter Ripper”.
If you’re not a horror person, don’t worry. Not everybody is using lo-fi graphics to be scary. Others are trying to tap into the nostalgia for those bygone days of 1990’s 3D platformers. “Frogun” is one such title, a charming call-back to old-school collectathons with simple graphics but very strong art direction. You play as Renata, a girl who uses her frog grapple to navigate the game’s tricky platforming levels while jumping on enemies to subdue them. There’s definitely still a market for games like this, and it’s nice to see somebody filling that void; in this case, the small studio Molegato, which crowdfunded development.
Described as a “horror cooking game”, “Happy’s Humble Burger Farm” sees you start a new job working at a fast food chain. But nothing is as it seems, of course. The NPCs alone are visually disturbing, with unsettling designs that are repeated over and over again. However, you’ll find your mission to make burgers and keep the orders coming in impeded by the various, grotesque monsters that appear throughout the restaurant. You’ll have to do a bit of lore hunting to really decipher what the story is, but it’s all rewarding, and a great way to spend a few hours if you’re looking for some solid scares.
This one’s a boomer shooter, and a hugely popular one at that. You’re fighting your way through the layers of hell in a tried-and-true formula, punching and shooting everything that gets in your way. The game’s fast, too, and you’ll get ranks on how well you do in enemy encounters that encourage playing quickly and mastering the mechanics. It’s a boon for speedrunners, especially since attaining the highest overall rank possible – “P” rank – unlocks secret, extra levels. And, finally, you’re playing as a robot that needs blood to survive, meaning killing enemies will heal you – not that you needed any extra incentive to fight.
This series releases collections of small, horror indie games via itch.io at least once a year since 2020, and some of the games it collects are real treasures. They’re all designed to emulate that PS1 style, even including the PS1 logo in the series’ own logo. In the tradition of classic demo disks, these are quick games that bring concepts to life, riffing on classic titles like “Resident Evil”, “Silent Hill”, “Doom”, and so on. Many aren’t full games, as is the nature of the demo disk, but some have been so well received that the developers have been able to make full releases. It’s a great way to promote small, sometimes lone developers, and enjoy games that don’t usually go mainstream.
Another boomer shooter, “DUSK” is the oldest game on our list. It’s about an isolated town that has, somehow, become overrun with Lovecraftian monsters. It’s your job to find out what happened and what the researchers were doing, while also wiping everybody out to try and fix the problem. With floaty controls and satisfying weapons, it’s a great speedrunning experience, too – though, be sure to slow down and take in the creepy, low-poly environments. Just because they’re simple doesn’t mean the visuals aren’t great, after all. It’s also just as gory and explosive as you want a game like this to be.
Brace yourself, because “Cruelty Squad” has some of the most out-there visuals of any video game, and it might be more than you can stomach. This nightmare of an FPS casts you in the role of a cyborg killer-for-hire, sent to perform hits on anybody the company you work for doesn’t like. Navigating the levels alone to find your targets is pretty difficult, with a lot of visual noise to parse – but that’s all by design, and makes the game highly unique. And finally, it’s got an organ trading stock market mini-game, just in case you were looking for something like that to invest some time into.
10 Modern PS1-Style Games
Welcome to MojoPlays! Today, we’re looking at 10 Modern PS1-Style Games. You’d better believe these low-poly classics are brand-new.
For this video, we’re looking at games released in the last few years that are inspired by the graphical and gameplay styles of the PlayStation 1.
“The Convenience Store” (2020)
As we’ll see throughout this list, low-poly and CRT-esque graphics are perfect for horror. Though these graphics were once cutting edge, the strange shapes and blurry textures can now seem very disturbing. “The Convenience Store” isn’t QUITE as graphically limited as some of our other games, but it’s an excellent and frightening title, so it goes on our list. Made in Japan with Japanese audio, you play as a young woman who works in a convenience store on the night shift. We won’t spoil anything, but this isolated, empty store builds suspense like few other settings, with sinister customers and unnameable horrors on the security cameras.
“Fears to Fathom: Home Alone” (2021)
There are multiple entries in the “Fears to Fathom” anthology now, which adapt short stories into horror games. “Home Alone” is just one of those episodes, and it’ll only take you about twenty minutes to see it through. But, it’s quality, not quantity, and you’ll be chilled to your core wandering through this dark house at night. There’s a shadowy figure outside who may be trying to get in, but DOES he get in, or are you just imagining things? This story in particular came from Reddit, too, which is a fertile ground for producing terrifying, tall tales and creepypastas. Keep an eye on “Fears to Fathom’s” website to keep up with future installments.
“Bloodwash” (2021)
In this game, you’re also playing through a VHS-filter the entire time, complete with invasive scanlines. You’re playing as pregnant college student Sara, whose boyfriend hasn’t been able to do the laundry. This means she has to venture out late at night to the laundromat because she has a job interview the next morning, and no clean clothes. But, of course, there’s a serial killer on the loose who specifically wants to claim pregnant women as his victims. It’s a corny concept, but the run-down environments and very unsettling sound design keep the experience feeling fresh. And it’ll make you think twice about putting off doing the laundry in future.
“Murder House” (2020)
Another slasher, this one has a classic concept and lots of clichés to sink your teeth into. There’s a spooky, abandoned house that a serial killer once lived in, and investigators go and visit years later. Lo and behold, the killer returns, and you’ve got to try and get out alive. Paying homage to genre staples like “Resident Evil”, “Murder House” also boasts tank controls and fixed camera angles. It’s also not a PC-exclusive like many other PS1-style games, releasing on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch as well. So, no matter your preferred device, you can get the game and enjoy being hunted down by the formidable “Easter Ripper”.
“Frogun” (2022)
If you’re not a horror person, don’t worry. Not everybody is using lo-fi graphics to be scary. Others are trying to tap into the nostalgia for those bygone days of 1990’s 3D platformers. “Frogun” is one such title, a charming call-back to old-school collectathons with simple graphics but very strong art direction. You play as Renata, a girl who uses her frog grapple to navigate the game’s tricky platforming levels while jumping on enemies to subdue them. There’s definitely still a market for games like this, and it’s nice to see somebody filling that void; in this case, the small studio Molegato, which crowdfunded development.
“Happy’s Humble Burger Farm” (2021)
Described as a “horror cooking game”, “Happy’s Humble Burger Farm” sees you start a new job working at a fast food chain. But nothing is as it seems, of course. The NPCs alone are visually disturbing, with unsettling designs that are repeated over and over again. However, you’ll find your mission to make burgers and keep the orders coming in impeded by the various, grotesque monsters that appear throughout the restaurant. You’ll have to do a bit of lore hunting to really decipher what the story is, but it’s all rewarding, and a great way to spend a few hours if you’re looking for some solid scares.
“ULTRAKILL” (2020)
This one’s a boomer shooter, and a hugely popular one at that. You’re fighting your way through the layers of hell in a tried-and-true formula, punching and shooting everything that gets in your way. The game’s fast, too, and you’ll get ranks on how well you do in enemy encounters that encourage playing quickly and mastering the mechanics. It’s a boon for speedrunners, especially since attaining the highest overall rank possible – “P” rank – unlocks secret, extra levels. And, finally, you’re playing as a robot that needs blood to survive, meaning killing enemies will heal you – not that you needed any extra incentive to fight.
“Haunted PS1” series (2020-)
This series releases collections of small, horror indie games via itch.io at least once a year since 2020, and some of the games it collects are real treasures. They’re all designed to emulate that PS1 style, even including the PS1 logo in the series’ own logo. In the tradition of classic demo disks, these are quick games that bring concepts to life, riffing on classic titles like “Resident Evil”, “Silent Hill”, “Doom”, and so on. Many aren’t full games, as is the nature of the demo disk, but some have been so well received that the developers have been able to make full releases. It’s a great way to promote small, sometimes lone developers, and enjoy games that don’t usually go mainstream.
“DUSK” (2018)
Another boomer shooter, “DUSK” is the oldest game on our list. It’s about an isolated town that has, somehow, become overrun with Lovecraftian monsters. It’s your job to find out what happened and what the researchers were doing, while also wiping everybody out to try and fix the problem. With floaty controls and satisfying weapons, it’s a great speedrunning experience, too – though, be sure to slow down and take in the creepy, low-poly environments. Just because they’re simple doesn’t mean the visuals aren’t great, after all. It’s also just as gory and explosive as you want a game like this to be.
“Cruelty Squad” (2021)
Brace yourself, because “Cruelty Squad” has some of the most out-there visuals of any video game, and it might be more than you can stomach. This nightmare of an FPS casts you in the role of a cyborg killer-for-hire, sent to perform hits on anybody the company you work for doesn’t like. Navigating the levels alone to find your targets is pretty difficult, with a lot of visual noise to parse – but that’s all by design, and makes the game highly unique. And finally, it’s got an organ trading stock market mini-game, just in case you were looking for something like that to invest some time into.
